Andrea Barzagli has said he has been astounded by Cristiano Ronaldo's hunger and desire and he expects the Portuguese forward to break his Serie A drought soon.

Ronaldo has failed to find the back of the net in his first three games in Italian football, but Barzagli expects the floodgates to open as soon as he scores his first, saying that he has never witnessed anybody with such an obsession to work hard, score goals and be successful.

"I've been struck by how much effort and aggression he puts in to score goals and win every type of challenge all the time," he said at an awards ceremony on Tuesday night. "The fact he's not scored yet is the least of our worries.

"He's scoring all the time in training and I'm sure when he also starts doing so in games, he's not going to stop. He's an incredible professional and it's a pleasure for me to train with him because he transmits energy and great desire to work."

With Ronaldo in the squad, Juve hope to go one step further by winning the Champions League this season, after losing two of the past four finals.

"We all hope so," Barzagli said. "That is what we're working for. We've strengthened by signing a player who knows how to win finals, but the Champions League is not an easy competition. It's all about moments and we need to be clever in taking ours.

"We're favourites to win again what we've won in the past, but we need to prove we're the best and now we've got a tough month to come with the start of the Champions League. We've started well. On paper, it seems we have the [strongest squad] in recent years, but only results count and we'll draw the conclusions at the end."

Juve have started the season with three straight wins and are two points clear of Sassuolo, the team they meet after the international break, at the top.